Review: Xenofit ‘Second Skin’ deer tallow cream

As I was getting to the end of my Enzo’s Buttonhole chamois cream and couldn’t find a stockist, I decided to look around for some other brands, and came across this.

Xenofit is a German brand, made by Hirschtalg, and Second Skin contains deer tallow (which turns out to be a classic German skin softener – who knew?) and lanolin. The other ingredients listed were petrolatum, paraffinum liquidum, olea Europaea fruit oil, tocopherol and chlorophyllin-copper complex. So in other words, it was mostly a petroleum-based product – I should have taken more careful note of that.

If I had, I would have been less surprised to find, when it arrived, that it’s what a British person would call Vaseline. Basically. Vaseline with a few bits added. In a tube. And it’s not what I’d call a cream, either.

The tube is a bit of an issue, actually, as it’s extraordinarily difficult to squeeze the product out, as it is so solid and greasy. Since I lack the strength of Samson in this regard, and I also don’t like the feeling of grease applied to my nether regions, this unguent (you can’t call it a cream) has mostly remained unused. I’ve decanted a bit of it into a little pot and take it with me as a skin protector and lip salve, and I’ve used it on the dogs’ feet when we do our long rides. But given the size of the tube, it could take me years to use up, especially as the smell is offputtingly unpleasant.

Useful for those who like a waterproof chamois cream, perhaps, if you’re riding in hot, sweaty conditions, but it’s not my cup of tea. Luckily, it was cheap: 5.55 euros with 4.55 shipping from Germany, via Ebay.